by Matt Perman
Forbes has a helpful article on how “one of the greatest success stories of our time just found failure in a big new market.”
The article points out that “rumor has it that only 5,000 iPhones have been sold in China since the device’s Oct. 30 debut.” It then explains what went wrong and what we can learn from Apple’s experience.
by Matt Perman
Peter Drucker:
The first step toward effectiveness is to decide what are the right things to do. Efficiency, which is doing things right, is irrelevant until you work on the right things. Decide your priorities, where to concentrate.
Work within your strengths. The road to effectiveness is not to mimic the behavior of the successful boss you so admire, or to follow the program of a book (even mine). You can only be effective by working with your own set of strengths, a set of strengths that are as distinctive as your fingerprints. Your job is to make effective what you have — not what you don’t have. (From Managing the Nonprofit Organization, 198.)
by Matt Perman
The question is not simply, “What must I do to make a difference?” but also “What must I learn to make a difference?”
by Matt Perman
If you think that your company is too risk averse, it’s possible that you are just getting the wrong message. However, the burden is still on the top leadership to make sure that they are not unintentionally communicating a risk-averse mentality.
Ram Charan explains this in Profitable Growth Is Everyone’s Business: 10 Tools You Can Use Monday Morning:
People also have problems dealing with risk because their leaders may be sending the wrong message. This could be the case if you overhear people within your organization say such things as, “The guy at the top doesn’t want us to take chances.”
They could reach this conclusion by paying attention to all the questions you ask when someone brings up a new idea. You know you are just drilling down to figure out where the potential landmines are when you ask about market risks, hinge assumptions, and the like. But they may not.
You know you are just doing your homework. But people within your organization may add up the questions you are asking and conclude that you think the initiative they are proposing is too risky.
And if you go through the same due diligence — and you should — by asking all these questions about potential risks and rewards, every time someone proposes a new idea, your people could conclude that you think all initiatives are too risky.
You have to make it clear — every time — why you are asking the questions.
by Matt Perman
Zach Nielsen has a good post on how to handle the challenges of managing your life when you have a young family. I went to college with Zach, and would recommend his blog in general.